CORTLAND, N.Y. – Jaiquawn Jarrett wished he was somewhere else. Sunday mornings last fall, he left the home where he grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. He walked with his mother, grandmother and sister, just across Greene Avenue to the red brick building with three large, rounded windows in front and, maybe, the answers for his future that he hoped to find inside.

He prayed here at Antioch Baptist Church as a boy, years before he excelled at Temple, before he was selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft, before he was released last September, after one game, by the Philadelphia Eagles – stunningly early for a second-round pick, and a “surreal” experience for Jarrett, he said.

He kept his apartment in Philadelphia and worked out at Temple’s facility with his personal trainer, Tony Fulton. Jarrett still hung out with former Eagles teammates Brandon Hughes and Dion Lewis. But on weekends, when the NFL moved ahead without him, Jarrett drove home, back to Greene Street, back to Antioch Baptist.

He had envisioned different autumn Sundays.

“It wasn’t what I wanted,” Jarrett said. “But I think going to church made me a better man and made me understand that God has a better plan for me. I think that I’m capable of playing in this league, so I just prayed day in and day out.”

He kept working out. His 23rd birthday passed, later in September. A few teams brought him in for tryouts. The season rolled on. He didn’t bother watching games.

“I didn’t make it a point not to watch them,” he said. “I just didn’t.”

The Jets signed him on New Year’s Eve, giving him a second chance at a career in 2013. In March, the Jets’ starting safeties, LaRon Landry and Yeremiah Bell, signed with Indianapolis and Arizona. The Jets filled one of the spots with Landry’s older brother, Dawan, leaving Jarrett and Antonio Allen to compete for the other job in training camp.

Allen practice with the starters until this week, when coach Rex Ryan elevated Jarrett to the first team, after his strong showing in Friday’s game at Detroit. Jarrett will start Saturday against Jacksonville, but the position remains undecided.

Jarrett came to the Jets with an outlook freshened by his family and church time. He moved to Brooklyn, just across the borough from his family. He resolved to enjoy himself, be more thankful for what he has, and focus only on things he can control. But he grasps that third chances are rare in the NFL, and he must maximize his experience in New York, where his position coach is Tim McDonald, a six-time All-Pro safety.

McDonald was skeptical at first. He knew Jarrett struggled in Philadelphia, which drafted him high because of need, but saw him flounder in pass coverage. Jarrett played in just 13 games over two seasons, with two starts. When the Eagles cut him, coach Andy Reid said his hard-hitting style might fit better elsewhere.

“You always want to look at the good in somebody,” McDonald said. “But you knew he had that thing where he was a high draft pick that was released. So you wonder. Up until this point, I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen a guy that’s a good, smart football player.”

Ryan raved about Jarrett’s convincing hits in Detroit, where he played exclusively with the backups. Ryan also said Jarrett’s deep coverage is “improving.” McDonald said Jarrett has “never been really all that bad (in coverage), as far as I’ve seen.”

As Jarrett works on his perceived weak point, one technical coverage detail he hones is staying focused on the receiver when he breaks in his route, rather than immediately looking back for the ball.

Jarrett shadows McDonald every day, eager to learn from an expert. After position meetings, Jarrett almost always sits with McDonald in his office, asking questions about his responsibility in a scheme, and watching extra video.

“The day you stop asking questions is the day you think you’ve figured it out,” Jarrett said. “And you never figure it out when you’re in this game. There’s always something else. You’ve got to continue to ask questions, because you don’t know the answer to everything.”